The Road Not Taken
by It'sNotUnusual
Summary: Blaine has only ever known what it means to be in absolute poverty. Kurt has never known anything but wealth. When a mysterious hooded being transports them back to Robin Hood's Sherwood, they find their worlds collide. AU INCOMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yes, it is another fanfic. **

**Yes, I am still working away on Exit Wounds. **

**But I have actually written **_**everything **_**for this fic. It's just a matter of uploading. So it will **_**definitely **_**be regular updates – once a week or so. :) **

**God, this is horribly AU. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

The teenager took his mother's cold hand. "It's market day," Blaine Anderson whispered. "We're going out today, Lucy and Paul, and Daniel and me."

"You and Lucy are going to sell flowers?" the middle-aged woman rasped. Blaine nodded, brushing a wisp of hair away from his mother's face.

"You don't like what Paul and Daniel do, but they have to. You know they have to."

"Theft is… wrong…" she croaked.

"No, Ma! They _need _to steal. Otherwise we wouldn't have anything to eat for dinner or even tomorrow."

"But… the flower money… to buy…?"

Blaine laughed bitterly, hardened by his street life. "The _flower _money?" Blaine scoffed. "No, no. The flower money's used to pay for the rent, and it doesn't even cover _that_. If they didn't steal, then we'd be rotting in our graves by now."

The woman shook her head vigorously, as obstinate as ever. "Stealing… is _wrong_…" she insisted, earnest as ever.

Blaine's heart broke at the sight. He knew that his mother was nearing her end, and he couldn't bear it. Blaine knew in theory he could lie to himself, avoid the truth when his little brothers asked about their mother, but they all knew that their mother was dying. She was healing, because they'd managed to scrounge some medicine, but Blaine, and his older sister, Lucy, both knew she'd never see another Christmas.

* * *

Kurt Elijah Hummel's mother pulled back the curtains. She was a thin woman, with her hair pulled tightly back into a ponytail. "Come on, darling!" she called. "Up you get! Breakfast is on the table, and Florence picked out a _gorgeous _outfit from the High Street yesterday. Come on, darling! Up you get!"

Kurt opened his eyes and wandered downstairs, where a full English breakfast, as usual, was on the table, waiting for him. Kurt had been about to take a bite when he lowered his fork.

He could have sworn he heard a boy cry. Carefully, Kurt laid the fork down on the table and walked out into his garden. The boy didn't sound like he wanted attention, he sounded like he had nothing else in the world and almost as if he had lost the last thing precious to him.

* * *

Blaine glanced around the teeming farmer's market. The smell of cooking sausages at the meat stall filled the air, and feet banged against the damp concrete. Now and then a woman would drop by, purchase a bouquet to adorn her living room, or maybe as a gift, and drift off again. It wasn't a large source of income, but it was a steady one.

It was quite unlike Paul and Daniel's line of work, which consisted of them waiting, appearing as though looking for someone in the market, but really looking for open pockets and bags. They were skilled- but it was never going to get them out of poverty. It was never was good enough.

Then again, none of them were ever going to get out of here, out of the vicious circle. Not Lucy, not Blaine, not Paul, not Daniel. Only Beth had half a hope of breaking the cycle- Beth, their baby sister. They weren't doing this for themselves anymore – it was all for Beth's sake. After all, Lucy had dropped out of school for her. Lucy went to a job she hated every day and endured jeers about her family for Beth. If Beth hadn't been born, Blaine knew Lucy would have stayed at school, and might even have escaped from Lima.

But she _had_ been born. It was for Beth, all of it, and so Blaine continued to sell flowers on Saturdays. He knew he would do anything for Beth. Absolutely anything.

* * *

Kurt walked out into the garden. The long, gentle slope up Lima Hill stretched out above him. At the summit lived the Olivers. It was just Johnny and his mother. Kurt didn't know what had happened to Mr. Oliver, nor did he care. He was probably a good-for-nothing, someone who ran at the first opportunity. Everyone of that class was.

Mrs. Oliver was the town baker for Lower Lima, and Johnny was entering a junior archery competition at the end of the month. Kurt couldn't see the point of learning archery. He'd never use it ever again in normal life. On the whole, however, Mrs. Oliver and her son were respectable people.

On the other hand, there were the impoverished who lived in Lower Lima. They were the people who sold flowers for a living, had ten children in a family and grew up to be criminals. Kurt absolutely despised them.

Every day, he could hear their loud shouts selling their wares, food or otherwise, interrupting her peace and quiet when he was trying to do work or read a book. It just irritated him _so much_.

Kurt looked down at the town, which seemed further away today than it normally was, and then back up in the direction of the Olivers' cottage, before turning around and heading back inside.

He was trying to finish his homework when he heard the voices. It was the same boy that he heard crying earlier; he could tell.

"_See, Beth! We told you. A scholarship. You're getting out of here." _

"_Where's Lucy? I want to tell her! She needs to know… I didn't waste her sacrifice!" _

The voices faded. It was a few minutes later that another person started talking, and this one sounded much closer to him than the two before had been.

"_Beth, no, NO! Beth! You can't be! Beth… Beth, please wake up. You were gonna get that scholarship, remember? Get the Noores out…"_

"_Blaine, come on. You know she's dead." _

"_Lucy! Lucy, can't you do something?"_

"_Blaine, she's been dead a few hours now. You know that, really…"_

"_No. No… NO. BETH!"_

Those voices faded out too, and the silence they left behind sounded so much more sinister than before. It was confusing- 'Beth' in the first set of voices had been going off to school, and in the second one she had died before even applying for a scholarship? What had he heard? What was going on?

**A/N: Thanks for reading! **

**Review? **

**TUMBLR IS bluelilacflame**

**Imogen xx **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's chapter 2. :) **

**Just warning you – this is very very AU. And (take this as a minor spoiler, if you will) it's not going to be happy. Neither of their back stories are very pleasant, although Blaine's is worse. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

Blaine hummed, his sister's arm around him, as they headed back to the tiny rooms where his mother and Beth were waiting. Everything was looking up for the first time in a long time – Paul and Daniel had stolen a decent amount, and nearly all of the flowers had been sold.

They pushed the creaky front door open. Their mother was lying on the large old bed, and Beth was lying in his little cot, just as they had been when Blaine had left them that morning. The difference was neither of them were making a sound.

Not even breathing.

* * *

Kurt spent the day as he had spent every other Saturday, doing nothing, really: taking his horse out, calling his friends and doing some dancing in the private studio. It was hardly a productive way to spend a day, but Kurt, frankly, didn't care.

He was in his nightclothes, about to fall asleep, when he heard raised voices down in the living room. Kurt pushed his door open and warily made his way down the stairs. He gently nudged the door - behind which his parents were arguing - open, looking inside.

"Why do you _think_ I'm doing it?" his mother was screaming. "For me? No! I hate it here. I'd much rather go back down to Lima and live the rest of my life with my family! For you? You, who continue to beat me down with every step! I do it _all_ for our son! That's why I'm doing it. So that Kurt can have a better life than the one either of us had!"

"Do you think I don't care about him?" his father yelled. He picked up the closest glass miniature, and hurled it at Elizabeth. She ducked just in time, and Kurt, used to seeing them fight, closed the door behind him.

Why had he expected any different? That was all they did, argue. He really couldn't remember a day when they were in the same room and had not, or were not, arguing. Kurt hated it. He hated the fear, he hated the anger, he hated hearing his mother's tears and he hated hearing his father slam the door as he stormed out. Kurt and his mother knew he was seeing another woman, but they didn't say anything. What was the point? He wasn't going to change.

Kurt went back up to his room and sat on his bed. He'd heard them fight so many times… but why was it now that he felt like crying? He knew what he wanted. He wanted his father to come in and rock him to sleep and tell him that everything was going to be fine. But that wasn't going to happen. He knew what would happen next, because it always happened that way.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the front door slammed shut, and from his window, Kurt watched his father drive off towards his most recent affair, just as he always did. Nothing was ever going to change.

* * *

Blaine leant his head against the window, watching for Paul and Daniel. Lucy was preparing the cold corpses for a burial, and Blaine was waiting to tell the boys. Tell them that Beth and Mama were dead.

A shout from outside caught his attention. He had lived in Lima long enough to know what a street fight brewing sounded like.

That shout.

Blaine sprinted out, ignoring Lucy's yell of 'B! It doesn't concern you! Blaine!'. If Paul and Daniel were involved, though, as their older brother, it did concern him. And Lucy too, not that she'd do anything about it. Lucy had always believed that if they got themselves into a street fight, they could get themselves out of it.

It became clear they were involved- of course they were. Blaine rolled his eyes. Typical. They were always obsessed with pride and family dignity and so on. Blaine pushed his sleeves up and pushed his way into the fray.

"Paul! Daniel!" Blaine yelled. "Home, now!"

They somehow squeezed their way out of the fight and towards the tiny house. Blaine had turned to follow them, when someone shouted at their backs,

"Oi, you! Why'd you do that? You their father or something?"

Blaine turned back around to see a boy, 18, right behind him. He knew who he was – how could he not? Red hair, green eyes, Mick Karofsky was the best person for stirring the pot in Lima. "You stupid or something?" he mimicked him. "They're only four years younger than me. Just leave us alone. We don't want to have anything to do with you."

"Gotta bit of attitude, haven't you?"

"Nobody cares what you think."

"Wassa matter? Hey, what are you wearing that old rag for? Haven't you _got_ any decency?"

"I'm not giving you any more warnings, Mick. Watch. It."

"Oh, I know who you are! You're that Noore boy. Well, like mother, like son, I suppose."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Five Anderson kids of the same mother… Well, actually, they shouldn't be Noores… none of you've got the same father, have you?"

"I swear to _God_, Karofsky…"

"Don't think even one of you deserve 'Anderson'. After all, none of you are _actually_ his."

"My mother never had affairs. Never. She has morals – unlike you Karofskys."

"Oh, yes, I know, she's a wholesome woman. But really, that all goes out the window when it comes to her profession. That's where she got all five of you, see. It's hardly a secret, now, is it?"

Blaine didn't know what he was doing. All that was going through his head was _Ma, Ma, Ma_, the name screaming in his head, clouding everything. He pulled his arm back and squarely punched him in the face.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lucy watching him. Lucy, who looked absolutely terrified. Blaine turned back to the packed crowd and pulled his hand back again.

To punch thin air.

**A/N: Review? Next chapter going up next Saturday. Sorry, I know it's short. They do get a little longer, more around 1.5-2k words apiece. :) **

**Imogen xx **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own naught. **

Blaine blinked in confusion. The street had disappeared, with its dirty pavements, rowdy market sellers and men spoiling for a fight. They had been replaced by a natural smell, Blaine surrounded by trees and feeling a cold breeze that was too unpolluted to be from the 21st century.

Blaine looked down at his ragged clothes. They hadn't changed- they still had the holes and were still made of the same weak material that Mick had teased him about, in the street.

Blaine's feet also felt different. Instead of scratchy concrete slabs, there was grass and dirt and dew. It felt like the last 14 years living poor were forgotten. All that was real was Blaine's new freedom and the trees.

Blaine took a few steps into the forest. He could go anywhere, stay here until he died, and nobody would know where he was. Blaine grinned. Freedom, at last. Another world… one where it didn't matter if all you had for money were a few coins under the mattress.

The grin slowly turned into a frown of realisation. He was in another _world_. How did he get here? All his family were in Lima. It had been hard there - living was always a daily struggle - but everything he'd ever known was there.

How had he even got here? Where was he? Could he get back home…? He thought of question after question. They took over him, took over his body. His knees hit the ground, and Blaine buried his head in his hands and sobbed.

* * *

Kurt made his way downstairs. "Mom?" he called. "Mom, he's left…"

Kurt glanced around the corridor in confusion. All their furniture had disappeared, and in its place were a few slabs of wood that vaguely resembled a table and chairs. Instead of the bright lights that occasionally flickered in the hallway, a few tall candles on the small table were burning. Kurt cautiously pushed open the front door.

To see forest.

This wasn't right. How could he be in a _different_ house? It was impossible. There was no explanation for watching his father drive away and then for him to go downstairs to find himself in a _forest_. It just didn't make sense.

Kurt took one cautious step into the forest. He looked down, feeling water on his feet, and groaned. He had no shoes – they'd disappeared with the rest of the house.

So now he had an empty house, which somebody could return to at any minute, and a forest, thought which he could wander indefinitely. Barefoot.

Great.

Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This wasn't so different from his life on Lima Hill. After all, his father would only be there two or so times a week and his mother only in body. It would just be like Kurt spending the day with his friends.

Kurt opened his eyes again. There. It wasn't so bad. Kurt could deal with it.

He took a step forward and found himself staring into bright blue eyes.

* * *

Blaine pushed himself up from the ground and roughly rubbed his eyes. There was no point in crying; it wasn't going to bring his family here or take him back.

Blaine walked forward, testing the roughness of the ground. He smiled, relaxing and enjoying it. It was much gentler on his feet than the streets of Lima. It was almost soothing, except for the rough pieces of bark scattered here and there on the forest floor.

Blaine had just walked past yet another tree when his arm was caught by someone. Someone with a remarkably strong grip.

"Let me _go_!" Blaine shouted, trying to twist his head around to bite his captor.

Unfortunately, they were having none of it.

"Stay still!" the other person snapped. "What are you doing in Sherwood Forest?"

"I'm… sorry…?" Blaine asked, bewildered.

"Name?"

"Blaine Anderson."

"Rich?"

"Not in the slightest."

"How many moons have you been wandering the forest?"

"One, only." What on earth was a _moon_? Blaine hoped it meant day. That was quite close to the truth. Or maybe an hour… that would be better. He must have only been here for an hour or so.

"Well, I know a place you'll be looked after for the time being. We can't have a child such as yourself travelling the forest completely alone. Fighting skills? Or are they non-existent?"

"I grew up on the rough side of town. I think I _can_."

"Good. But- no 'rough side of town' tricks, please. He's the one taking you in, and you'll kindly abide by his rules."

Blaine blinked in astonishment. This woman was possibly the most enigmatic person he'd ever met. "Who is he? For that matter, who are _you_?"

"The leader? Lord Robert of Locksley, Earl of Huntingdon, otherwise known as Robin Hood. And I am Maid Marian. Can I release you, or will you force me to drag you along to the camp?"

"You can release me," Blaine said. "I'm not a wild animal, despite the fact you're treating me like one."

"Yes, certainly. You might want to hold your tongue around Robin, though. He has the fiercest temper of anyone I know." Marian let go of Blaine's arm and came into full view.

Blaine took a half step back in wonder. The only other person he'd seen dress that extravagantly was that Kurt Hummel who lived on Lima Hill. Marian had long, blonde hair and blue eyes, with very pale skin. She wore a long, flowing blue dress that completely enveloped her body, and wore a long white headdress that covered all of her blonde hair except the fringe and the ends.

Oh yes, she certainly was like Kurt- and Blaine hated Kurt with a passion. The rich boy looked down on all the Andersons, and treated them as if they were stray dogs in the street.

Blaine trudged after Marian through the forest, looking around suspiciously. After all, he'd only just met her, and Marian had grabbed him at the first second. Now he was being expected to trust the woman while she was taking Blaine to somewhere unknown and potentially very dangerous.

Finally, they arrived at a large tightly grouped section of trees, voices coming from inside the circular section.

"Robin?" Marian called. "Robin? I found a boy wandering the forest!"

And on the opposite side of the trees, someone called the exact same words.

**A/N: Review? **

**Imogen xx **


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